News and events from WKU Libraries

This month’s Far Away Places series featured Angene Wilson, emeritus Professor of Education at University of Kentucky, and Jack Wilson, retired director of the Division of Water for the state of Kentucky on the evening of October 20, 2011 at Barnes & Noble in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The couple talked about their service as the first Peace Corps volunteers in the 60’s as well as the stories of other volunteers that they wrote into their book “Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers.” They signed their book at the end of the event.

This month’s speakers in our Far Away Places series are Angene Wilson, emeritus Professor of Education atUniversity of Kentucky, and Jack Wilson, retired director of the Division of Water for the state of Kentucky.

Angene, who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and Jack, who grew up in Adrian, Michigan met as freshman at the College of Wooster in northeaster Ohio. In March 1961, their senior year, inspired by President Kennedy’s, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,” and wanting to see the world, they stapled together their applications to the brand new Peace Corps that Kennedy had just established. They were to be married in August and wanted to serve as Peace Corps volunteers together. In June 1962, they joined 90 other volunteers in the first group to serve in Liberia teaching history and English at Suehn Industrial Academy. It was a life-changing event for them, as it would be for the many other Kentucky volunteers whose stories are related in “Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers.”

The event is to be held at Barnes & Noble on Campbell Lane at 7:00pm this Thursday, October 20th.